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In the past LiverKick has been dedicated to bringing you some of the best and greatest Kickboxing events from all over the world, from GLORY, It's Showtime and SuperKombat and we look to continue that trend by becoming an official partner with K-1's broadcast partner, Epicentre, to bring to you, the best Kickboxing fans in the world, the K-1 World MAX 2013 Final 16 live here on LiverKick. You can view the fight card here.

The event will be on September 14th at 1PM Eastern time here in the US, 6PM London time in the UK and will cost $19.99 USD. So we invite you to join us on September 14th for the K-1 World MAX 2013 Final 16 event live here on LiverKick. Remember that purchasing the PPV through the site helps to support LiverKick so we can continue to bring you the latest and greatest in Kickboxing coverage.

UPDATE: Thanks to K-1's sponsorship deal with Thai Airways International the stream will now be free!

Sigh. Seriously, there's nothing pretty about this. This is stupid, this is obnoxious, it's kind of awful. Buakaw Banchamek is a guy who has been through a lot of crap and has had fans really pulling for him throughout. I've gone to bat for him a few times when he was claiming to being mistreated by his former camp and right now it's hard to feel bad for him. Abusing an animal of any kind is a really, really awful thing to do. Everything from simply hitting one in excess to the more horrible things like dog fighting and using weapons on them is just flat out wrong.

So you can only imagine the horror at this video that has been passed around the past two days. In this video Buakaw is sitting with a dog and playing with its paw. The problem is how he's playing with the dogs paw. He's taking the dog's paw and slapping it across the dog's face, then starts to get more aggressive as he goes on, jamming the paw into its mouth as the dog audibly cries out in pain. If you've ever owned a dog before, you know the sounds a dog makes when its in pain and it's not playing. Those are the sounds that this dog is making. Near the end of the video the dog is literally screaming out in pain.

It's hard to watch if you are a dog lover, or, hell, if you are just a decent human being. As an owner of two dogs there is never, ever a situation that would arise where a dog should be treated this way. Ever. This is not only in poor taste, but this is downright animal abuse. We live in an age of social media where stuff like this should not go unnoticed, if you follow him on social media tell him that this is not okay. It's hypocritical that he's posting photos on Instagram of him cuddling and playing with the same dog and kind of bothersome to see people defending his actions as "just playing" with the dog.

That wasn't just playing, that was being a shithead. The video is below and it is disturbing.

K-1 has been promising some big news for a few days now and many have believed it just to be another show, but instead it is the signing of one of the hottest free agents on the market today; Buakaw Banchamek. Buakaw has had some very well-documented problems over the past few years, from Por. Pramuk to Thai Fight, and has found himself unable to fight for whomever he wants. His legal issues have subsided a bit, though, as he found himself once again able to fight for promotions outside of Thai Fight.

Rumors have been circulating that Buakaw would sign with GLORY any day now, with some stating that he'd be fighting Giorgio Petrosyan, some saying that he'd be fighting in GLORY's upcoming Lightweight tournament and others saying that he'd fight for them in 2014 instead. It looks like none of that will happen as Buakaw Banchamek has instead opted to sign with K-1, where he will participate in the upcoming K-1 World MAX Final 16 tournament in September, which goes down in Mallorca, Spain. This is a huge acquisition for K-1 at this point

Today is the day! The K-1 World MAX 2013 Final 16 goes down live from Palma de Mallorca, Spain live at 3:00PM Eastern time here in the United States. The event is the Final 16 of this year's K-1 World MAX tournament, which means eight tournament bouts are set for the card, featuring Andy Souwer vs. Yasuhiro Kido, Buakaw Banchamek vs. David Calvo, Enrico Kehl vs. Henri Van Opstal and more! Tune in live, right here on LiverKick or via Epicentre.tv. Either way you do it, the event is absolutely free of charge!

We'll be bringing you live updates from the event so keep refreshing LiverKick!

K-1 MAX Reserve Bout: Christopher Mena (R3 - Dec.) Chad Sugden - They were closely matched up throughout the first two rounds, but Mena scored a knockdown in the third round which secured the decision for him.

Final 16: Maximo Suarez (R3 - Dec.) Miodrag Olar - Damn, this was just an all-out war. Olar fought very hard, with super heavy hands but Suarez had technique on his side.

Final 16: Buakaw Banchamek (R1 - TKO) David Calvo - What a demolition! Buakaw knocked Calvo down early with a devastating punch to the liver, only for Calvo to stand back up, then get hit with another and was unable to answer the ref!

Final 16: Lee Sung-Hyun (R3 - Dec.) Charles Francois - Lee got a solid knockdown in the first round which helped to dictate the pace of the fight. Francois had a stronger second round, but Lee took the third round easily.

Final 16: Shane Campbell (R1 - KO) Wallace Lopes - Wow, Shane Campbell. Wallace Lopes missed weight and was docked a point but it didn't matter as a kick to the liver (YEAH!) put Lopes down and kept him down.

Final 16: Enriko Kehl (R3 - Dec.) Henri van Opstal - Close, competitive fight. Van Opstal took the first round, but Kehl came back in the second round with the body shots that did some damage, following up with the same stuff in round three for the win.

Final 16: Zhou ZhiPeng (R3 - Dec.) Joey Pagluiso - One of those down and dirty fights that saw a lot of clinching from both sides. Pagliuso was given a yellow card in round three which made it clear that the fight would go in the way of Zhou.

Final 16: Elam Ngor (R3 - KO) Ismat Aghazade - Another ugly fight with Aghazade getting a yellow card for clinching. Ngor landed a body punch and low kick that put Ismat down, with him unable to answer the ref's count in time.

Final 16: Andy Souwer (R3 - Dec.) Yasuhiro Kido - This fight was a lot closer than most would have expected, with Souwer being in control most of the bout but Kido landing some really clean shots. A cut was open over Souwer's eye and it was inspected, but he was cleared to finish the bout.

It is hard for me to even type out that Buakaw Por. Pramuk, K-1 MAX superstar who made his name in Japan has won a bout on American soil, but it happened last night. Sadly after not one but two reporter situations left us out in left field, we had to catch the event like the rest of the world did, and the event saw a lot of big names on the worldwide scene make a splash, a bang and no real whimpers. That is a godsend for a debut show, especially in a tough United States market for kickfighting.

The event saw not only Buakaw pick up a win, but Nathan "Carnage" Corbett, Artem "The Lion" Levin, Nieky Holzken and Baxter Humby also won in impressive fashion.

Oh Buakaw. If you've been following his non-progress for the last few years you know how much of a struggle just about anything that he does can be. In many ways, Buakaw has broken the mold of a traditional Thai Fighter; he went and fought Europeans in K-1 MAX and did very well, he came back an international conqueror, left his camp, had a weird relationship with a promoter and a few sponsors before getting on the outs with them and then hooked up with MAX Muay Thai.

His court proceedings continue one, but it is important to note that Buakaw's contract with Thai Fight has ended, according to his Facebook page.

Outcome of today's proceedings in the Civil Court at Ratchadapisek - there will be another session to hear the decision on whether this lawsuit will be handled by the Civil Court or the Central Intellectual Property & International Trade Court. Buakaw also announced through his lawyer that he has officially terminated his contract with Thai Fight...

That does indeed mean that he is free to fight for MAX Muay Thai, as opposed to just doing exhibitions. The rumor that has been shooting around over the past few days revolves around a possible agreement between MAX and GLORY which would focus on putting Buakaw in the big fights that we want to see him in, including a possible Petrosyan fight in either Asia or Italy, and then Buakaw involved in the next 70kg GLORY tournament, which is what fans have been begging for now for a while.

The past few years have been turbulent times in the life of Sombat Banchamek, best known as Buakaw Banchamek, formerly known as Buakaw Por. Pramuk. The legendary fighter from Thailand is perhaps best known for his tenure within K-1, where he took home two K-1 World MAX Championships, cementing his legacy as one of the best 70kg fighters in the world. For fans of Banchamek, the last few years have been trying ones, as Banchamek found himself with tremendous personal and professional struggles that kept him out of the ring, or if he was in the ring, facing sub-par competition to keep the legend of Buakaw alive and well.

The first struggle was with his home camp, Por. Pramuk gym, where Buakaw felt that he was being treated unfairly and chose to leave. Well, things aren’t that simple in Thailand, with the bond between a gym and fighter being akin to that of an ironclad contract. Buakaw made impassioned pleas to the public about his poor treatment and how he, one of the biggest stars to come out of Thailand’s Muay Thai scene, was still living a life of moderate poverty and unable to visit his family at will.

There have been a number of smaller Muay Thai stories making the rounds lately that we haven't had a chance to mention, so for you fans of the science of eight limbs, here are some of the latest rumblings, all collected together.

-First up, a result from this past weekend direct from Thailand. One of the big events this year has been the ongoing Isuzu Thai Fight qualifying tournament at Omnoi Stadium. That tournament is nearing completion, as the first of the two semi-finals went down this past Saturday. In semi-final #1, it was Nopparet Keatkhamtorn vs. Dernchonlek Sor. Niyom. Check the full entry for the complete fight, and if you don't want the result spoiled, stop reading this paragraph now. The semi-final clash was a good, if slightly odd fight at times, with Nopparet seeming to show some irritation throughout. As the fight progressed, Dernchonlek looked to control the clinch for the win, but it wasn't enough as Nopparet took the decision win. He now moves onto the finals to face the winner of Khem Sitsongpeenong vs. Prakaisaeng Sit O on April 16.

-We previously reported on the May 14 Thai Fight Extreme card, and now we have some more details. Coming from France, this is the event featuring a stacked line-up including Buakaw, Yodsaenklai, Saiyok, and more. A tentative card has been released, and it looks like they are going with a Thailand vs. France theme. The current line-up:

Saiyok Pumpanmuang vs. Mohamed Diaby

Sudsakon Sor Klinmee vs. Abdallah Mabel

Yodsaenklai Fairtex vs. Jose Barradas

Buakaw Por Pramuk vs. Djime Coulibaly

Petasawin Seatransferry vs. Sofian Dergada

Yuya Yamato vs. Fabio Pinca

Hiroki Komata vs. Samir Mohamed

Hiroki Yamamoto vs. Ibrahim Chiahou

Not a huge challenge for either Yod or Buakaw, but both Sudsakorn vs. Mabel and Saiyok vs. Diaby should be good fights.

-Another upcoming fight for Buakaw could be his planned appearance in the US at the August 13 Stand Up Promotions event in Anaheim, CA. Seeing the K-1 MAX legend is reason enough to be excited for this card, but they've now added a huge fight that should draw you in. On August 13 it will be pound for pound Muay Thai king Saenchai Sinbi (that's the former Saenchai Sor Kingstar, now relocated to Sinbi gym) vs. American Muay Thai stand-out Kevin Ross. This is an amazing score for the promotion, as this will mark the first time an American challenges Saenchai here in the US. There's great stuff going on in the west coast Muay Thai scene these days, and this match just shows how alive that scene is. Also discussed for that card are Kaoklai and Saiyok.

-Speaking of Saenchai, just a reminder that he is in action this weekend, facing Liam Harrison on the 9th at Duel at the Dome in the UK.

-Finally, one more US fight rumor - on May 14 Lion Fight Promotions will host Battle in the Desert 2. Rumors now indicate that the show may feature former It's Showtime and King's Cup champion Cosmo Alexandre against Cyrus Washington. Once again, this would be a great chance to see a top international Muay Thai name here in the US.

The K-1 World MAX 2013 Final 16 is rapidly approaching, going down on September 14th in Palma de Mallorca, Spain with a few big names tacked onto tournament and qualifying bout winners from this year. It makes for an interesting yet odd blend of names, which have now been put into fights! We've been waiting for these, so it is nice to see them laid out finally. The big match-ups are Andy Souwer vs. Yasuhiro Kid, Mike Zambidis vs. Elam Ngor and Buakaw Banchamek vs. David Calvo, but there are some interesting fights on there as well like Henri Van Opstal vs. Enriko Kehl.

So, let's get on with it already, right?

Andy Souwer (NLD) vs. Yasuhiro Kido (JAP)

Buakaw Banchamek (THA) vs. David Calvo (SPA)

Shane Campbell (CAN) vs. Wallace Lopez (BRA)

Lee Sung-Hyun (KOR) vs. Francois Alexande (FRA)

Zhou Zhi-Peng (CHN) vs. Joey Pagliuso (USA)

Maximo Suarez (ESP) vs. Miodrag Olar (ROU)

Henri Van Opstal (NLD) vs. Enriko Kehl (DEU)

Mike Zambidis (GRC) vs. Elam Ngor (ESP)

LiverKick will be hosting the internet PPV for the K-1 World MAX 2013 Final 16, so you won't even have to leave your favorite Kickboxing site to watch the event! Stay tuned for more details shortly.

K-1 has been in motion the past few days, making their big announcement of the list for the K-1 World MAX Final 16 as well as announcing that it will be available via internet PPV via the Epicentre.tv platform for $19.99. Needless to say, there has been a lot of movement from K-1, especially in regards to the World MAX Final 16, and all of it looks to be some good stuff. While there were some bumps in the road when it came to the K-1 World Grand Prix Finals earlier this year and the stream, K-1 has teamed up with Australia's Epicentre.tv to provide a HD quality stream of the event. Epicentre has been around for a while, streaming combat sports events all over the world and has a very good reputation for providing quality streams, so you can put yourself at ease knowing that you'll be able to view the K-1 World MAX Final 16 without any real hiccups.

Then, of course, comes the list of fighters for the Final 16. Considering the competition and the nature of the game right now, especially with exclusive contracts and whatnot, the fact that K-1 put together such a great list of fighters is astonishing. Some of the lesser-known fighters, like Enrico Kehl, are really top notch and will make for worthy additions to the K-1 MAX division.